Impact of Pandemic on Learning among Primary School Children

Pages: 134-136
U. Vijayabanu and S. Nandhini (Department of Psychology, Bhaktavatsalam Memorial College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu)

School is the place where a student learns not only language, maths or science, but also value, righteous behaviour, discipline and self-control. When a child sits in the class for 30-40 minutes, he/she learns to delay the gratification of physiological needs and thereby to control the psychological tensions. They also learn societal norms and appropriate social behaviour they learn concepts by interacting with teachers and peer group. During pandemic the children missed out all these interactions. Hence the present study aimed at identifying the impact of pandemic in learning process. Qualitative research design was used in this present study. Children in the age group of 5 to 7 are the sample. Using purposive sampling technique, parents and teachers 15 each was selected and in-depth interview was conducted to elucidate the impact created by pandemic on learning. Thematic analysis of the information collected was analysed and interpreted into major categories as emotional, social, academic and non-academic. It was found that pandemic had resulted in tremendous change in the behavioural pattern of the children, their attention span was reduced, and most of the children had problem in reading and writing in their mother tongue. However, they are excited about going to school as they like to be with their friends. Children developed more interest in extra-curricular activities like drawing, singing and dancing than academics. The present study implied the importance of parent’s role in bringing self-control and the need for training the teachers to handle the online classes more effectively.